When do I use pelo and por (level A1)

Portuguese Questions Expressions & Usage
1

When do I use ‘pelo’ and when ‘por’?
I see:
Muito obrigada por tudo!
and
Obrigado pela tua ajuda.
Can anyone tell me when to use either one of them?
Thanks a lot :))

2

Olá, @jorien59 :slight_smile: Pelo(s) and pela(s) are contractions of the preposition por + definite articles o(s) and a(s), respectively (whether singular or plural). So, with rare exceptions, you’ll always write pelo/a(s) whenever a definite article follows the preposition por. That’s the case in your second example, where the broken down sentence would be “Obrigado por a tua ajuda”. Other examples:

  • Eu entro pela porta (por + a porta)
  • Tu fazes tudo pelo João (por + o João)
  • …

More on Portuguese contractions here: Portuguese Contractions | Practice Portuguese.

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